Jitney driver dead, man jailed in Route 65 hit-and-run

A man is charged with DUI and vehicular homicide after police said he left the scene where a jitney driver was struck while standing outside his vehicle early Sunday morning.

Charles Britt, 67, of Morningside, died at the scene on Route 65 in Leetsdale at about 3 a.m. His friend, Christine Conner, was along for the ride as he was driving two passengers from Beaver County to Allegheny County.

Conner said Britt had stopped and stepped out of his car to deal with an argument with one of the other passengers. She said she still can't get the image of what happened next out of her mind.

"He went to get back in the car and I was watching him, and the next thing you know he was gone," Conner said. "I heard this loud thump and he was way down the street. It was the most horrified sight I ever seen."I just knew he got hit. I got out, I ran around. His shoes and socks was there. I couldn't see him anywhere because it was so dark, and I found him way up the street."

Conner said she and Britt's other passengers "got out, and we ran up to him. I was just screaming his name, and I seen a cop driving down the other side of the road. I screamed and he heard me and he come around."

"It was as though he had hit an animal," said Britt's former wife, Shelia Brown. "We saw the car, we saw the impact, we saw the blood on the side of the car, and how he was just maliciously run down. Maybe not intentionally, but maliciously."

Brown said she saw her former husband on Saturday and gave him a prophetic warning: "I had just stated to him that's going to be the death of you. And life is too short. You jitney all the time. You know, take a pause. So, lo and behold."

Police said they found the suspected hit-and-run vehicle in Sewickley and saw that it had heavy damage on the front end and a missing fender.

They arrested the driver, Shontell Harvey, 41, of Moon Township, who allegedly said he didn't stop because he was placed on probation last month in a harassment case.

Online court records don't list an attorney for Harvey. He's being held in the Allegheny County Jail and faces a preliminary hearing Aug. 30.

Copyright 2013 byWTAE.comThe Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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